The Bronx
rappers.
The borough that invented the form, then kept producing the people who argued about what it should sound like.
Everybody agrees on the starting point: DJ Kool Herc's parties at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in 1973. Through the rest of the decade Bronx DJs and MCs built the form in rec rooms, parks and clubs, years before anybody thought to put it on a record.
The borough never stopped arguing for itself. KRS-One made the case on wax during the Bridge Wars, the D.I.T.C. crew kept crate-digging production alive through the '90s, and Big Pun proved a Bronx technician could go platinum without softening anything.
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
"The Message," the record that moved rap from party chants to street reporting
FoundationsProfile →The Bronx1987Boogie Down Productions
Criminal Minded, then KRS-One turning the group into a classroom
FoundationsProfile →Forest Houses1990Lord Finesse
Funky Technician punchlines, D.I.T.C., and beats for Big L, Biggie and Dr. Dre
Golden ageProfile →Forest Houses1993Fat Joe
D.I.T.C. rapper turned label boss who built Terror Squad and introduced Big Pun
Golden ageProfile →Soundview1998Big Pun
Capital Punishment, the first platinum solo album by a Latino rapper
Platinum eraProfile →Highbridge2016A Boogie wit da Hoodie
Melodic Bronx street rap, launched through his own Highbridge the Label
Internet eraProfile →